Sandhornet, Jun-Nov 2017

Sandhornet x 3

Sandhornet is a very popular mountain top in all seasons, located above Ørsta in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This year, I have been exploring various routes on this mountain.

Nov 26 2017

Gorgeous weather and beautiful snow on the mountain. The only issue was that before I could get to the beautiful snow, I had to deal with a lot of ice. After a lot of recent rain, the temperature dropped below 0 and made a number of routes quite difficult.

On this trip, I parked at Brudavoll and followed the forest road upwards. This is the classic winter route. Going up on the icy forest road isn’t a problem, but I did not look forward to the descent.

On the forest road

When Karma and I reached the proper snow, I took it for granted that there would be ski-tracks that would carry Karma’s weight. THIS is the place Ørsta people come for a nice and quick ski-trip. But I was wrong. There were only two skiers (female) ahead of me, and I was catching up with them pretty fast.

On our way to Sandhornet (left)

After passing the two skiers, I had to break the trail while Karma was struggling on my tail.

I could sense Karma’s despair…

Two other skiers came in from the left higher up, but I ended up passing them as well.

Unspoiled. Almost.

In the final hill, Karma stopped several times and I gave her the time she needed to find the will to continue.

Karma, considering her future…

On top awaited the wonderful view towards the Sunnmøre alps. It was nice to here again, albeit cold. Karma had got ice inside the socks, so I decided to take them off.

On top of Sandhornet

The snow on top of the mountain was not good for skiing. I don’t like icy crust that doesn’t carry my weight. I am not that good on skis to find this enjoyable. But just a little bit lower, the snow was just plain wonderful and there’s very little I can do on this earth that would beat skiing down a mountain with snow like that.

Skiing not too fun right here

I stopped to chat with the two women I had passed earlier. We talked a bit about mountains and as they were in search for information about mountains, I asked them to occasionally check this site. One of them – Sol Renathe – did just that later on and found that we were both born in Mo i Rana. THEN we discovered that we also were related. My cousin Mia is Sol’s second cousin! It is indeed a small world, every now and then…

Saying goodbye to Sol and her friend

It was time to get going, I said goodbye to them and had a long a nice hill to kill. Karma did her best to follow, but the snow didn’t make it easy for her. I was shooting video, but I had accidentally set the speed to 80fp/s, so the result was just rubbish. Hence, the still images…

Just plain wonderful…

On one side, I didn’t look forward to the icy forest road, but on the other hand I did. At least, Karma didn’t have to fight deep snow anymore. And the descent went better than I had feared. Altogether a very nice trip!

The skiing route

Pictures from the trip:

The route

At Brudavollen

Up the forest road

Towards the mountain

Soft snow for Karma

A bit chilly

Unspoiled

In the final hill

On top of Sandhornet

Ready to go?

Full speed ahead!

Karma follows the tracks

Meeting a relative

And we’re OFF!

Whoooo!!!

We’re not down just yet

Karma doesn’t quit easily

Finally, solid ground! Yet frozen…

Oct 8 2017

I started this hike at Stordalen, just west of Brekke. After getting permission to park on a farm, Karma and I headed straight up to the harvested forest area.

The route: Straight up!

Eventually, we reached the end of the road from Brudavollen and continued on a path until I reached the path from Øvremo. Now I was in familiar terrain. We aimed for Kråkenakken and the ridge leading to Grøthornet and Sandhornet.

Towards Kråkenakken, Grøthornet and Sandhornet

The ridge route to Grøthornet is a very nice hike, and I always enjoy it. From Grøthornet, Sandhornet is only 1,2km to the north.

Sandhornet seen from Grøthornet

While ascending Sandhornet, we stepped into the first snow for the season. Karma knows how to have fun in the snow, and kept rolling around in it.

On Sandhornet

It was a bit chilly, and I was only wearing a sweater. But there was a thought behind it. I had been asked to test two sweaters in pure wool. The cheapest and most expensive I could find. The cheapest cost around 350 NOK, while the most expensive I could find was 950,- The question was simply; does it make sense to buy the most expensive one? WHAT is the difference?

Still fairly warm…

In sum, after the test period, I couldn’t really find any huge difference in how well the sweaters kept me warm. The expensive one felt like silk and the cheap one felt itchy, without itching. That was what I was able to conclude. The article eventually got published and those who asked me to do the test seemed happy…

From the article

On the way down, I took the path from Kråkenakken to Brekkesætra and found a path that was quite something! Sherpa quality, but most likely built by Norwegians.

Very nice!

Pictures from the trip:

The route

At Stordalen

Easy travel

Kråkenakken ahead

The ridge to Grøthornet

Sandhornet ahead

Towards Sandhornet

On Sandhornet

Not the greatest views today

Karma, waiting for goodies

Karma – STILL waiting for goodies

Selfie

A fun route down

June 18 2017

Anne and I had been engaged to test shell jackets in the NOK 4000-5000 price range, 8 labels each. We were now typing up the final report that we soon had to deliver.

In case you wonder – we also tested the jackets outdoors!

But it was Sunday, and Sundays mean hiking. Actually, every day means hiking, but especially Sundays! Unfortunately, Anne had a bad knee and couldn’t come along. I decided to take Karma and go to Sandhornet. At least, we wouldn’t be gone for many hours.

I decided to try the route from Øvremo. It took me a little while to find it, as my outdated GPS map only showed a couple of houses where the trail starts. There are quite a number of houses up there now…

The route from Øvremo

The route up to Brekkenakken was surprisingly steep. Not the type of route where you want to be in a hurry!

Steep route up to Brekkenakken

The reward after this initial ascent, is a nice view towards Ørsta.

Ørsta view

From Brekkenakken, I followed the path that seemed to go in the direction of Grøthornet, and eventually I found the ridge path. I really liked this route, and this ridge will be my favorite route in summer. I will just alternate between the trailheads.

On the ridge towards Grøthornet

Eventually we reached the top of Sandhornet, and could enjoy the scenery…

Summit view from Sandhornet

And in August, the article finally hit the newspaper and the internet…